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Jackson Schappert

Debra Jizi

UWRT 1104

22 March 2017

1. Why is ADHD so over diagnosed among American youth?

2. This is a question I have been asking myself since I was in elementary school. It started

because every year of element school my teacher would call home multiple times a year

complaining to my mother about how hyperactive I was. I didnt know this was

happening until 4th grade when I asked my mother do I have ADHD? She proceeded to

tell me that she had never really considered the thought of getting me tested, although I

would have most definitely been diagnosed if I had been tested. She told me that she

doesnt want my personality to be snuffed by drugs made to make me calm down and

focus. This thought stuck with me, and as I became older, I became more aware that this

was actually a problem in America. Children, especially young boys, have been over

diagnosed with ADHD ever since it became a disease! From this inquiry project, I hope

to understand better why it is being so over diagnosed and find a possible solution to this

problem. Or even more specifically, why were teachers trying to diagnose me with

ADHD?
3. Coming into this project, the only idea I have on why ADHD is so over diagnosed is lazy

adults. Young children, especially young boys, have a LOT of energy. This just comes

with being young! Too many parents are just not able to keep up with their kids, so they

take them to the doctor and give them all Adderall. A lot of problems come with this.

First off, children are not good at taking pills. They miss doses regularly which causes

brain chemistry to get all out of whack. This can lead to much larger mental issues such
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as anxiety and depression. The drugs also cause children to lose their personality. I know

this because I have seen it happen to some of my friends. They started out as people full

of life and energy, but they became dull and boring after they started taking ADHD meds.

Before I started thinking deeply on this issue, I didnt see it as a huge problem, but once I

realized how many lives this problem affected, I wanted to know why. I almost see this as

an epidemic that needs to be fixed in America. It is causing children to lose their interest

in the world and it is causing more serious mental illnesses to become more common

within the younger generations.